Marshall wrote:Although, in fairness to Mazzer, weight and portability are important factors when you are shipping, setting up and taking down a show booth.

I did not see any indication that people were concerned about grinder weight. It's not like the big Compaks, Peaks or the other serious grinders being used in place of Mazzers are that much lighter than Mazzers, it was more like the third wave has moved on. Assuming third wave is still a valid term.

Ira

Well, here are some pictures and brief review of some of the home user items I found most interesting. Perhaps many of you are familiar with some, at least one is going to be on kickstarter soon, so anyway, this post will be a little long.

First though, a huge thanks to Mill City and the coffee community. It is an incredible group that I hope I can truly find a way to become a proper member of one day and I really appreciate Mill City making the tickets available that allowed me to go. Secondly, I apologize if I stumbled across anyone and wasnt completely straightforward. At some point I got tired of explaining that I am an Elementary School teacher and the company listed on my tag is actually the school district I work for. Thus, I started answering casual brief conversations as I roast--technically true and if any further comments followed that I worked for the company on my tag. Also true Anyway, I will break this into 3 posts there are alot of pictures. I didnt bring my good camera, just my phone, sorry for the quality:

Already made a thread on orphanespresso's pitcher but don't want to leave it out:

We have seen this before, but i never realized how beautiful these storage solutions are. A true upgrade from my airscape...



The new Acai Stand mentioned earlier:




Here was a pretty little ceramic press that was very reasonably priced. He also had a strange little filter with holes along the entire sides. I almost bought it at just 11 bucks, but decided I really didnt believe it would work well, it just didnt make any sense to me.

This is the New Hario brewer mentioned in an earlier thread. I mention it here because I had originally dismissed it as absurd on seeing the retail price in japan as 54,000 Yen or approx 500 dollars. However, the guy at the booth said that this is slightly different than the upcoming US release version, which will also be cheaper, coming in at 350 dollars MSRP. He could not give specifics on what was different. While I thought the touch screen was way too small to be user friendly and I would hate to have to make frequent changes, it had alot of features as seen below and will likely be solid competition for the Ratio that was so highly praised in the HB review.









Of the various to-go presses this was my favorite. Very reasonable price at 30bucks and seemingly good quality

And the last set...(hopefully this photo barrage was not unwelcome, sorry guys!)

The Mina. It was seen last SCAA as I recall, but I dont remember, personally, hearing the details. They are all double boiler, It has constant pressure and the lever at the top controls flow rate. There are small clicks as you lower the lever and the flow rate increases, with 5 stepped increments. The lights on the side show you which rate of flow you are currently set at.





This was a really pleasant surprise. I would have bought one if he had been selling them at the show. This guy had tried to start a kickstarter a little while back but it didn't make funding, however, it worked out in the end! an awesome little cupping brewer allowing you to brew following cupping guidelines and then stop and pour without altering extraction.




Finally, two products from the same company. A little camping grinder/brewer combo. The grinder was no Lido, thats for sure, definitely not for normal travel/car camping, but if one was hiking/camping/rafting I could see the combo brewer as an excellent option. The second is supposed to be released on kickstarter in the next few weeks. A little silicone Bellows AeroPress.

day wrote:Finally, two products from the same company. A little camping grinder/brewer combo. The grinder was no Lido, thats for sure, definitly not for normal travel/car camping.

That grinder-brewer-insulated cup combo is the Cafflano, which I posted about elsewhere. It was not intended to compete with the Lido, but has been very popular for "normal travel" among SCAA staff, who have also given it as gifts.

When you are a frequent flyer to remote destinations, a light, compact all-in-one is enormously convenient. That little hole in the red pouring cup, by the way, is to direct a fine stream of coffee onto the grounds (paperless, too!). They were flying out of the Cafflano booth at a low show price. I bought one. Link here: http://cafflanoshop.com/product/cafflan ... fee-maker/

Marshall wrote:That grinder-brewer-insulated cup combo is the Cafflano, which I posted about elsewhere. It was not intended to compete with the Lido, but has been very popular for "normal travel" among SCAA staff, who have also given it as gifts.

When you are a frequent flyer to remote destinations, a light, compact all-in-one is enormously convenient. That little hole in the red pouring cup, by the way, is to direct a fine stream of coffee onto the grounds (paperless, too!). They were flying out of the Clafflano booth at a low show price. I bought one. Link here: http://cafflanoshop.com/product/cafflan ... fee-maker/

I will defer to your judgement on that. I respect that it wasn't a direct lido competitor but strictly viewing the travel grinder aspect in isolation, the value of the rest is very dependent on ones specific circumstances. It was a very nice all in one, especially the built in spout/filter, but the only coffee i had out of it was also pulled too hot and on the bellows press, so a lot of factors at play. That may have led to a pretty bitter extraction and a lot of silt. The grind was clearly of a very wide particle distribution and the burr had a lot of play but if i hadn't bought a copy of A Roasters Companion I might have picked one up anyway too:) I really did like the products and look forward to seeing what his finalized press is like. I have a 4 minute video of it in action of anybody wants to see the press.

Marshall wrote: ...
When you are a frequent flyer to remote destinations, a light, compact all-in-one is enormously convenient.

This is what i use mine for. Although the grinder is just frustratingly inconsistent. However, it usually beats the alternative!

day wrote:Also a number of nice new beverages, a draft latte that was spectacularly delicious and some fantastic beer/coffee collaborations.

Draft Latte? Was that the Nitro?

JK wrote:Here's a link to some pics I took for those that couldn't maker it..
http://www.rexmill.com/temp/SCAA/

Thanks!

drgary wrote:Brian,

Your photos and text are more than welcome to those of us who couldn't attend. Thank you for these great posts!

+1